Battle of Camp Freedom

The Battle of Camp Freedom (1 April 2006) was a battle of the Afghanistan War fought between the Taliban and the United States. Following several local disturbances, the Americans and United Kingdom decided to set up the ISAF base "Camp Freedom" near the village of Karam, harboring their soldiers and military equipment there. In a daring attack, the Taliban and al-Qaeda decided to assault the NATO base there, with several fighters closing in on the base. The ensuing battle saw the insurgents slip into the base and engage the Americans in the confines, with little of the battle taking place outside of the base. The result of the battle was a Taliban victory, and they used their triumph as propaganda to recruit disenchanted Pashtuns into their militant group to fight against their European enemies.

Background
Camp Freedom was built on 17 January 2006 as an ISAF military installation with the purpose of giving a base for American and British troops and their humvees and other equipment. The ISAF base included a garage for the humvees, several beds for the soldiers, and storage rooms for crates of weapons and ammunition. It flew the British flag, as it was set up by the British Army; however, the facility was mostly used by the US Marine Corps as they took over jurisdiction of operations in the area. The Taliban operated from the nearby village of Karam, where they set up a stronghold from which they could strike at the coalition forces at the base. In February, a Taliban truck bomb in Karam destroyed a US Army tank, impairing the Americans' ability to fight against the insurgents with extra support. Taliban attacks near the base increased, and in April 2006 they decided to launch an unprecedented assault on the base.

Battle
The Americans were caught by surprise with the sudden assault by the Taliban, whose fighters carried AK-47s, AK-74us, RPDs, Dragunovs, and other Soviet-made weapons. The Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies launched a combined assault on the ISAF base, and the Americans tried to fight back from their positions. However, the insurgents managed to infiltrate the base and assault the Americans from within, and the battle became a bloody encounter for the surprised US troops. They hurried to engage the enemy in their base, and the ensuing battle saw heavy American losses. American machine-gunners took up positions against areas where they could mount their bipods, but Taliban snipers were able to remove the threats with their accurate shots. Several American soldiers were gunned down without even seeing the enemy, and the Americans decided to withdraw after they had continually sent their soldiers to their deaths at the hands of the insurgents. In the end, the Taliban succeeded in taking over the base, a propaganda victory.

Aftermath
The Taliban's capture of Camp Freedom was a rare Taliban victory over the Americans, and the Americans temporarily left the Karam area. The Taliban enforced sharia law in the area, dismantling the camp and tearing down any pinup posters that the soldiers had left behind and destroying radios, DVDs, CDs, beer bottles, and non-halal food that were stockpiled at the base. Footage of the battle was taped by Taliban fighters and sold to people in Afghanistan for their entertainment and for propaganda purposes, while the US government decided to marshal up a counterattack to retake Karam from the insurgents.